A New Trainer Meets an Old One
by The Other Guy
Summary: Ash and his friends are saved from Team Rocket by a mysterious new trainer with amazing Pokemon. This takes place when Ash returns to the Indigo League for a special single-person match- like the Indigo League in the video games.


****

A New Trainer Meets an Old One

Ash has finally gotten to the Pokémon League, and surprisingly hasn't seen his rival, Gary for a while. While he has enough badges, he still has one problem- he's lost on Victory Road!

"This is hopeless, Ash!" rages Misty, fuming at Ash, "Why'd you have to get us lost!?"

"We're not lost," Ash replies, "We're just, uh, well.."

"Well nothing! We're lost, and that's that!"

"I'm sure we'll find some way..." Tracy tries to calm Misty down.

"Well, maybe.." Misty says thoughtfully. Then she turns and points to Ash, "But for now, we're still lost, and it's all because of **him**!!!"

"And I bet **_you_** could have done any better!" Ash retorts. It's apparent that these two aren't getting along very well, and up until now Tracy hasn't been getting involved, but he's been sitting here watching so long, he already drew the whole cave with Misty and Ash fighting, and he's pretty bored.

"Can't you two wait until _after_ we get un-lost to fight." he says, annoyed, "We won't get **anywhere** wit you two fighting. PLEASE!"

"I'm not doing anything," replies Ash, "It's **her **who's yelling at **me**!"

"Oh, well. I guess you're right," Misty realizes. So the little band finally set off to get "un-lost". Finally, Ash realizes something missing.

"Pikachu!" he yells so loud it makes Misty and Tracy almost hit the ceiling.

"What?" Misty exclaimed, "Pikachu? He's gone! Where'd he go?" Suddenly, two- no, three- familiar voices start their favorite saying.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To Unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!" Team Rocket jumps down from the shadows above, landing right in front of the trio.

"Team Rocket- Huh?" Jessie says.

"What?" James asks.

"No Pikachu!"

"Whaaa! No Pikachu!" James repeats in surprise. Then he turns serious, "Where'd you hide him?"

"We were just looking for him!" Ash says, "I thought you took him!"

"Where is he then?" James looks around, "Ahh! Meowth is gone too!"

"What!? Meowth, gone!" Jessie exclaims.

"There's definitely something fishy going on here," Tracy observes. Realizing there's no point in conversing, Team Rocket leaves, promising to return and capture Pikachu. Ash, Misty, and Tracy then continue on searching for Pikachu.

***

Meanwhile, Meowth and Pikachu are in the same conflict as the others. Meowth, never going without the team saying, says it all himself, realizing how lame it is. The whole time Pikachu has a huge bead of sweat on the back of his head. He's not impressed.

"This time we've got you Pikachu! Jessie and James may not be here, but they're not much help any- ahh!" Ash and his friends have just walked out from behind a rock. Meowth is immediately gone from sight.

"Pikachu!" Ash calls as Pikachu jumps into his outstretched arms.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu smiles.

"Hey, look!" calls Misty, pointing to a corner. In the corner is a small piece of paper and something else.

"A map!" Ash calls, picking up the objects, "What's this?"

"Looks like some kind of note," observes Misty, leaning over to see what Ash was holding. Both read the note, then looked up. Immediately, they heard Tracy yell and quickly whirled at the sound. No one was there- including Tracy and Pikachu.

"Aaaw, not again!" Ash cried, "Now where'd he go?"

"You dimwit!" Misty screeched, "Don't you see? Both him **and** Tracy are gone! They're not lost, they were-"

"KIDNAPPED!!!!" Ash leaped into the air, "Aaargh! That note was just a trick. I bet it was Team R- huh? What's that sound?" They both looked around, eyes searching, ears open. Suddenly, as if by magic, Team Rocket came flying down out of nowhere, lading right in front of Ash and Misty. Quickly, they jumped back up and ran away as if from a ghost. Ash and Misty turned around at the sudden sound of voices.

"Whoa, thanks! Team Rocket almost got us," one voice said gratefully. Misty and Ash immediately recognized the voice as Tracy's

"Pika-Pika," agreed the familiar voice of Ash's best friend- Pikachu.

"I've had previous dealings with the Rockets, but none were as easy as those two," said another mysterious voice, "I knew that they would be up to no good as soon as I laid eyes on them."

"Well, I have to go get to my friends," explained Tracy, "Hey, wanna meet 'em?"

"Pika!!" Pikachu thought it was a great idea.

"Sure!" said the other voice, "I like meeting other trainers!" Tracy suddenly jumped down from the shadows with Pikachu close behind him.

"Hey Ash!" he exclaimed, excited, "We were just saved by a Pokemon I've never seen before! And the trainer wants to meet you!"

Ash wasn't quite sure he **wanted **to meet this trainer. Team Rocket were terrified at his Pokemon, not to mention how it was never seen before, or at least not by Tracy. _Well_, he thought, _he seems kind enough if he saved Tracy_.

Suddenly, a shadow moved from above, bringing Ash out of his thinking, and a boy, a little bit older than Ash, but no older than 14, appeared wraithlike from the shadows, sending shivers up Ash's spine. _This guy must be used to sneaking around_, Ash thought. Then he brightened, and finished the thought: _On Pokemon_! The boy had straight blond hair, held up by a headband around his forehead. He had a brick red shirt and long, baggy jean shorts. Ash couldn't see any of his Pokeballs. He stuck out his hand towards Ash.

"My name's Slash, nice to meet ya'!" he said in a cheerful voice.

Ash grabbed Slash's hand, shook it, and smiled. _I think this guy will be okay_, he thought. "My name's Ash, she's Misty, and the guy you just saved is Tracy."

"Nice to meet you all," Slash answered, shaking Misty and Tracy's hand, "Hey, are you going to the Pokemon League?" he suddenly asked.

"Yup!" Ash answered.

"Great!" Slash exclaimed excitedly, "So am I! We could go together and get to know each other!"

"Okay!" Ash pumped his hand in the air. With the map and Slash, he knew he wouldn't get lost again. The four trainers started right away to the Pokemon League, Ash and Slash talking all about Pokemon, Pokemon training, their adventures, and everything else Pokemon. Slash, however, didn't really seem to want to talk about his adventures, he seemed to want them to be kept as secrets. Ash, on the other hand, didn't seem to want to talk about anything _but_ his adventures. By the time they got halfway to the Pokemon League, Slash knew Ash's story inside and out. As they walked on, Ash talked more until...

"BE QUIET!!!!!!" Misty screamed so loud Ash nearly flew to the ceiling, and Slash whirled around, about to send out a Pokemon, "You guys-" (_especially Ash_, she thought) "-are giving me a headache!"

"Oh yeah?" replied a steaming Slash, "Well you gave me a headache when I first saw you!" Ash burst out laughing so hard he fell on the ground and started rolling.

"Arrrrrgh!" Steam rose from Misty's now crimson head, but she couldn't think of anything to say, so with a "Humph!", she walked away. ash was still laughing and didn't see her, Slash had turned his back right after his comment, and Tracy was busy drawing Pikachu playing with a Diglett. Finally, Ash got up.

"That was a good one, Slash!" then he suddenly stopped smiling, looked around, and added, "um, I think it was a little _too_ good. Misty left."

"Well, at least I don't have a headache anymore," Slash suggested. Ash glared at him. "Kidding! Just Kidding! But, the Pokemon League closes in an hour; we don't have time to find her. Hmmm...... Oh! I know!" he suddenly said, brightening up. He pulled out the map, "Tracy!"

"Hmm?" Tracy looked up from his drawing. Then he noticed.... "Misty's gone!"

"Yeah," Slash nodded, "and we need you to take this map," Slash tossed the map to Tracy, "and find her. Bring her to the Pokemon Center up ahead."

"Why don't-" he didn't finish. Ash and Slash were already hurrying to get to the Pokemon League in time to battle.

***

"Aaaaaah!" Misty screamed. She had been lost for hours, and was surrounded by Zubats. After fighting and running for a long time, she ran into a Golbat, who started flying around her. She hit it on the head, but it only got mad. Teeth sunk into Misty's arm, and everything went black.

***

Tracy still couldn't find Misty! It had been nearly four hours, and Misty was still missing. _I would much rather be drawing Pokemon right now_, he thought. Suddenly, a purple shadow flashed in front of Tracy's face- a Haunter. The Haunter was joined by five Ghastlies, who all started circling around. They slowly got closer, and closer, and closer, until they were close enough to grab Tracy.

"Kyahooooo!" the ghosts scattered in fright; Tracy was blinded by a brilliant red and yellow light, and it got extremely hot. Suddenly, Tracy was swept off his feet, and he felt the flames engulf him.

***

Misty woke up to see smoke all over the place above her.

"Aaaaah!" Misty tried to get up but immediately fell back down as pain shot through her arm. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the pain tore at her. "It's poisoned," she observed painfully. Then, with her good arm, she pulled out an antidote from her backpack. Something was missing from it though.

"Toge- ahh!" Misty howled as she slammed back down against the ground, forgetting that her arm was poisoned. Pain coursed through her as the wound was strained again. Trying to ward off the pain, Misty forced the medicine down her throat. Lying back down, she wondered what to do. She couldn't get up yet because of the bite on her arm, but Togepi was gone. What could she do? Misty wailed in despair as the poison took over...

***

As Tracy was swept away by the firey creature, the flames didn't seem as hot. In fact, they didn't even burn his paper! As Tracy tried to identify what he was on top of, he remembered the fiery bird, Moltres, that was seen at the Pokemon League games. Then he realized that he was riding on the back of the same bird he had seen on Fire Island!!! The Moltres had saved him! _But why? _he wondered. As if in answer, the bird hurled him off, realizing that there was something on it. Tracy was hurtled head-over-heels straight into a pool of cool water. Tracy looked up just in time to see the bird disappear behind a rocky cliff.

"So the Moltres wasn't trying to save me," Tracy explained to himself, "It was simply flying by and swept me along with it. Too bad I didn't have time to draw it." Just then, Tracy heard "To-ge, To-ge, piiiii!" and the little egg scampered over to Tracy, tripping over a branch on the way. Luckily (for both of them) Togepi landed in Tracy's lap and didn't get hurt.

"Tracy! Misty!" the familiar voices of Ash and Slash called out.

"I'm over here!" Tracy called, finding them and waving to them. Minutes later, the two new friends were there to Tracy and Togepi's rescue.

"You OK?" asked Ash and Slash simultaneously.

"**I'm** okay," Tracy assured them, "but I don't know about Misty. I couldn't find her anywhere!"

"Don't worry!" Slash said confidently, tossing a strange looking Pokeball out. The Pokeball, instead of being red, was a light grayish color, with a four-leaf clover picture almost covering the top. Out from it popped a Farfetch'd, who wheeled around and landed on Slash's shoulder. "Dux!" Slash told him, "Go find Misty!" Dux nodded and soared away gracefully. 

"Hey!" Ash realized the Pokeball wasn't the right color, "What kinda' Pokeball is that?"

"Huh?" Slash was used to his Pokeball, so it didn't trigger in his brain what was so special about it. "Oh!" he said, realizing how different the Pokeball was, "It's called a 'Lucky Ball'. I made it from special materials. The Pokemon inside them can get special abilities." Just then, Dux flew back, carrying an empty antidote bottle.

"Misty must have been poisoned!" Ash said, snatching the bottle and looking at it.

"She'll be OK," Slash reassured Ash, "The Antidote'll heal 'er. All we have to worry about is actually _finding_ her." Slash then took A different Lucky Ball out and held it forward. Instead of opening, the Lucky Ball started to glow. Pretty soon, it was to bright to see. As the light dimmed, Ash and Tracy noticed another Pokemon. Tracy's eyes bulged and he looked as if he'd won a million dollars.

"That's it!!!!! That's The Pokemon!!!!!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down and pointing at the Pokemon.

-It's not polite to point.-

"Huh?" Ash looked around, "Where'd that voice come from?" Tracy stopped jumping and let his hand drop. He had heard it too.

-Who do you think?- the voice in their heads mused.

Suddenly Tracy looked in the direction of the Pokemon. It was mostly white, but had a purple tail and purple eyes. It slightly resembled a cat, but looked a bit more like a human. It was looking straight at Ash.

"I love it when they do that!!" Slash was doubled over in laughter. Ash suddenly realized what was going on. The white Pokemon (Mewtwo, if you haven't already guessed) was the one talking to his head. "Well, anyway," Slash continued, "Mewtwo'll take us to 'er."

-Be glad to.- replied Mewtwo. Suddenly, Misty materialized before there eyes, surrounded by a wall of fire. -I guess you want me to take her too, eh?- Mewtwo questioned Slash. Pretty soon, they were all in the Pokemon Center- all except Mewtwo.

***

The next day, Misty finally woke up. "Uggghh," she groaned, "Where am I? Where's Togepi!?" Misty suddely got up and realized where she was. She was in the Pokemon Center. There was a tray with breakfast by her bed, and there was a huge window in the side. Outside, many Pokemon were playing happily while they recovered in the Reserve. Picking up her back pack, Misty walked out to find the other three- and Togepi.

It wasn't very hard to find them- they were right outside the door waiting. At the first sight of Misty, Togepi stopped raining and scampeded happily over to Misty, who picked her up and hugged her.

"I missed you so much!" she cooed to Togepi. Then she turned and pointed at Slash. "You! You did all this! If it wasn't for you I would never have gotten lost!"

"If it wasn't for him," Ash replied cooly, "You would be dead and laying were you were last." Misty cooled down.

"Sorry," she hung her head.

"Now that Misty's better," Ash's sudden excitement made everyone jump, "We can go and keep training our Pokemon!"

"Great Idea!" Slash jumped up, "Let's go!"

With that, they all got up and started out to find what adventures they would run into. The four all agreed that they should fly to Pallet Town to say hi to Ash's Mom and Prof. Oak.


End file.
